of Sense or sprung from Corporeal Imagination And indeed the whole Scope and Design of their Philosophy was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Meditation of Death a Dying to our Earthly Passions Appetites and Desires and a weaning the Soul from an inordinate Love of the Flesh and a through Purgation from all Carnal and Sensual Lusts that they might behold 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with a pure Mind the unspotted and incorrupted Deity But whatever they aimed at is more clearly and fully made known to us in the Holy Scriptures wherein we are commanded to Mortifie our Members which are upon the Earth Coloss 3.5 i. e. our Earthly Lusts and Affections which spring from too near a Communication and Adhesion to these our Terrestrial Bodies such as Fornication Vncleanness inordinate Affection Evil Concupiscence and Covetousness which is Idolatry And to incourage them to this so indispensible a Duty the Apostle uses these two Arguments the first is in Verse 6. For which things sake the Wrath of God cometh on the Children of Disobedience i. e. upon those who would not be persuaded nor wrought upon by the Motives and Arguments of the Gospel to Change and Reform their Lives The other Argument is taken from the Profession they had engaged themselves in Verse 8. But now you also put off all these Anger Wrath Malice Blasphemy Filthy Communication out of your Mouth q. d. You that now have given up your Names to Christ and make Profession of his Religion cannot but know that Christianity gives no Allowance to any of these Impurities and Pollutions but calls Men to an Imitation of God who is the highest Purity Wherefore there is an Indispensible Obligation lying upon all Christians to put off and lay aside all such Corrupt Lusts and Affections And again Rom. 13.12 The Night is far spent the Day is at hand let us therefore cast off the Works of Darkness and let us put on the Armour of Light Let us walk honestly as in the Day not in Rioting and Drunkenness not in Chambering and Wantonness not in Strife and Envying But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not provision for the Flesh to fulfil the Lusts thereof By the Day is meant the Time of the Gospel or Christianity appearing to the World And by the Night is understood that State and Condition of Sin and Vice wherein the World lay before the appearing of this Great Light Now as the Light is a pure and bright Substance and the Gospel which we profess such wherein is no Darkness at all so it behoves us to Assimilate our selves to it in Works of Purity and Sanctity and to have no more to do with any of the Deeds of Sin and Vice which befit only the Spirits of Night and Darkness And for our Encouragement herein we ought 1. To set before our Eyes that sublime Copy and Example of Purity and Holiness which is set forth in the Life of our Blessed Saviour Who though he were subject to all the harmless Passions and Infirmities of Mortality being made like unto his Brethren in all things Sin only excepted yet kept both his Body and Soul as a Pure Habitation of Righteousness and Temple Consecrated wholly unto God into which he never suffered any thing that was defiled and polluted at any time to enter Though he Conversed with all sorts of Persons and his Behaviour was free and open yet he tasted as little of Bodily Delights and Pleasures as ever did any Man in the World Yea even where they were allowable he carefully abstained from them to teach us Self-denyal and Mortification and to shew us that though we live in the Body and have an intimate Union with it yet we may keep it under Subjection and so regulate all its Motions and Affections that our whole Man may be a fit Receptacle and Habitation for God to take up his Abode in Therefore foreseeing the danger how easily Men are betrayed by the secret Whispers and charming Insinuations of these Earthly Bodies to which they are united like a Faithful Friend he Admonishes them in Luke 21.34 To take heed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lest at any time their hearts be overcharged i. e. burdened and pressed down with Surfeiting and Drunkenness and the Cares of this Life which like a heavy weight under which they are not able to stir keep and detain them from lifting up their Souls to God For the Souls of Men though they are confined to Bodies of Earth and so at the present Inhabitants of this Corruptible World yet are made with such Capacities as to live with God in Heaven but by a too free indulging to their Bodies and Corporeal Affections they are fatally tied and chained down to the Earth and though they may now and then make some little Efforts and faint Attempts to ascend to those higher Regions yet it will be utterly impossible till they are perfectly disentangled and disengaged from the pleasures and delights of Sense And lest this Faithful Admonition of our Lord and Saviour should not be sufficient to keep us at a distance from the ensnaring Inescations of Flesh and Blood he assures us Matth. 5.8 That it is only the pure in Heart that shall see God The Philosophers tell us that all like is known by its like and if there were not something that were Congenerous and Analogous to Light in the Eye the whole World would be to us in a state of Darkness In like manner unless the Soul be purified and cleansed from all dark and bodily Affections and become in some measure inlightned whereby it may resemble God it is impossible it should ever see him Therefore our Blessed Saviour giving us so illustrious an Example of all Purity Temperance and Chastity and so earnestly recommending the same to all his Followers not only shews us the Absolute Necessity of the Mortification of our Bodily Lusts and Corruptions but also the Possibility of attaining to such a state wherein all the Motions of the Body may be brought into a due subordination to our more Divine Powers 2. We are to consider that this Purity is indispensibly necessary for the attaining Divine Wisdom and Knowledg There is nothing so much darkens our Understandings clouds our Judgments and besots all the Rational Faculties of our Souls as the bathing and sinking our selves into Bodily Delights and Pleasures For as the Corrupt Life of the Body grows and increases so proportionably the Divine and Heavenly Life dies and is extinguished and we lose all sense and rellish and tast of Heavenly things And it is impossible it should be otherwise for as John the Baptist said John 3.31 He that is of the Earth is Earthly and speaketh of the Earth And while the Earthly Principle is only alive in us it will Act according to its Nature and we are ruled and guided by its Motions and Inspirations And we know that this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Natural Man Receiveth not the things of the
Spirit of God 1 Cor. 2.14 There is a Divine quickness and sagacity that springs up in a purified Soul whereby it readily apprehends and has a Vital Sense of Heavenly and Divine Things which they that are sunk and lost in Bodily Lusts and Passions are perfect strangers to And not only Philosophy but Christianity tells us of Two distinct Principles in Man which St. Paul calls by the Name of the inner and outer Man And these Two have their different Motions Tendencies and Designs The outer Man is the Inheritance we derive from Adam which he elsewhere Rom. 6.6 stiles the old Man which is to be Crucified with Christ That the Body of Sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve Sin Now this outer Man or old Adam is only the Corrupt Life of the Body which leads to all manner of Impurity and Vice and is to be Mortified and Destroyed But the inner Man is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Plotinus calls it the true Man whose very Form and Nature consists in pure and unspotted Righteousness and Holiness it is the Image of the Lord from Heaven and as is the Heavenly Adam such are they that are Heavenly Now each of these Two Principles of Life is very diligent and industrious to Diffuse and Propogate it self and therefore is never wanting to offer all fit and insinuating Arguments to promote its own Interest Hence the Apostle St. James Chap. 3.15 tells us of a Wisdom that is Earthly Sensual and Devilish Now this Wisdom is the Genuine Production and true Offspring of the Bodily Life 't is the Thoughts and Projects of the Old Adam and is said to be Earthly because all its Designs and Purposes are laid out and contrived merely for this Earth and World wherein we live And it is Sensual because it studies only for the Gratification of Sense and the Animal or Brutish Life And Devilish being such as only upholds the Devil's Kingdom and promotes his Reign and Empire throughout the World But then he says Verse 17. that there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Wisdom that descends from above from the Father of Lights and as it derives from Heaven so it is still endeavouring to attract and lift up the Soul thitherward This is that Wisdom which is communicated to the Soul from the Spirit of Christ and being it self so Pure and Holy will not dwell in a Body that is Polluted with all Carnal Excesses and Defilements And if we should look upon the Effects of Sensuality and Debauchery as they are Daily visible before our Eyes we shall find that nothing does more Corrupt and Spoil our Rational Powers There are none that spend their whole Time in Gratifying their Carnal Lusts but their Understandings grow Dull and Heavy and lose their Briskness and Liveliness their Memories are Treacherous and Decayed and their Fansies and Imaginations serve only as a Stage to Represent and Act over again their past Filthiness and Pollutions 3. Without this Purity of Flesh and Spirit there is no Union of our Souls with God Union and Communion with God are the greatest Blessings the Soul of Man can partake of But none can think that God will dwell in a Charnel-house or take up his Habitation among Dead Bones And those that are given up to Bodily Pleasures and drown themselves in Sensual Delights in St. Paul's sense are no better than Dead even while they Live an Earthly Life 1 Tim. 5.6 We Read indeed of Spirits conversing among the Tombs but God will have no Society with the Dead It is the Living alone that praise him and declare his Truth There can be no Intercourse nor Communion between God and such a Man's Soul that has no Life stirring in it but what is the very Life and Nature of the Spirits of Darkness who are the most of all alienated and estranged from him He that is joined unto the Lord is one Spirit saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 6.17 that is there is such an intire Consent and Agreement between such an One and God that he wills nothing and desires nothing but what God wills and desires But there is is no Harmony Consent or Concord between God and that Person that is joined and tied to his Bodily Lusts and Corrupt Affections The pure Virgin-Chastity of the Soul is Violated and Defiled by Prostituting it to the Foul Embraces of Corporeal Pleasures so that it is a kind of Spiritual Fornication or Adultery Now to the intent we may all endeavour to attain this Purity that God requires and which it is our Interest to pursue let us 1. Abstract our Souls as much as we can from Sense and Sensible Delights Pleasures Even a Heathen could say Simpl. in Epictet p. 257. 78. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is That there is nothing more Destructive and Pernicious to the Soul than to give it self up to Bodily Pleasures because they do as it were nail and bind it fast to the Earth that it hath no might nor strength to lift up it self towards Heaven Therefore our Blessed Saviour requiring us to pluck out the Right Eye and cut off the Right Hand would have us do Violence to the Unruly Affections of the Body and bring them low and abate their Power by such a due Moderation that they may never betray us to Act against Reason and Conscience If we would endeavour to set a little loose from our Bodies and withdraw our Hearts from Sensual Pleasures and deny the Cravings of our Carnal Appetites we should not only find a mighty Peace and Satisfaction within our own Breasts but be more fitted to Converse with the God of Purity 2. Let us frequently represent to our selves that pure state of Angels in the upper Regions and that such a state cannot consist with Carnal Impurities Heaven is no Mahumetan Paradise filled with Carnal and Sensual but Divine and Intellectual Joys and Pleasures The time will quickly come when we shall be stript of these Earthly Bodies which we now so fondly Dote upon and Caress and Pamper to the fulfilling all their Impure Lusts And therefore it were our Wisdom to separate and disjoin our Minds from their too near Intimacy and Familiarity with them and to dwell often and much in our Thoughts upon that Future State in which all these Corporeal Pleasures will be at an end Then we should not be so unwilling and uneasie to leave our Bodies but should put them off with a full Assurance that we should not be left Naked but Clothed upon with our House from Heaven 3. Consider how infinitely Bodily Lusts and Affections debase our Souls and render them Brutish Every Christians Body is or ought to be God's Temple wherein he dwells and makes his Residence and it is a great Abuse and Profanation of this his Temple to make it a place for nothing but Carnal Debaucheries and Pollutions and in our Saviour's Language Turning it into a Den of Thieves and which is all one
Truth that seeks to diminish and obscure those Essential Attributes of the Deity which so evidently appear throughout all the Tracts of Immense space Thus then when we look into the Frame of the World nay but into the Fabrick of our own Nature and see with what wonderful Art and Contrivance things are made and how each Part is subservient and conspires to one great End and Purpose that is for the good of the whole this very Consideration That things are made and framed for Ends and Designs will lead us to the knowledg of a Conscious and Intelligent Nature which is no other than an infinitely Good and Wise and Powerful God Therefore if any one should go about to perswade us that either the Beautiful Frame of this visible World or the Admirable Structure of Humane Bodies in which is lodged so much Art and Skill had no other Original but blind Chance and Fortune and arose from the Fortuitous Coalitions of Atoms we cannot but look upon it at first sight as an Error and Delusion because it derogates and takes away from that Infinite Power and Wisdom which we behold in the making even of the least thing in the World Again if any Person should tell us that God made the greatest part of Mankind on purpose to Damn them without any Consideration of their Sin and Provocations It is impossible keeping our selves to this Rule that ever we should believe such a Doctrin because it is so contrary to his Goodness and Love which as it brought all things into Being for no other end but that they might be Happy so it will never destroy or turn any thing out of that Happy State without it's own demerit and default To instance once more If any Man shall Teach That the Commands of God are impossible to be performed and that though he invite all Men yet he denies sufficient Grace to the greatest part of them whereby they may be inabled to Obey him and be Extricated out of their Miserable Condition By this Rule we ought to look upon such a Doctrin as a downright Falshood Because it is certain that an Infinitely Wise and Good God cannot command and injoin Impossibilities nor exact and require Men's Obedience to his Laws without furnishing them with a sufficient Power whereby to do them And to do otherwise would so little deserve the Name of Justice and Equity that it would be no better than Tyranny and unaccountable Self-will Hence now it follows not only in these Instances but in any other Doctrins whatever if they any way lessen the Goodness Wisdom or Power of God if they disparage all or any of these Attributes such Doctrins can never be true For Truth is always the same and alike and is ever found agreeable with the Nature of God who is the Fountain of all Truth 2. If any thing be taught that is contrary to the undoubted Principles of found Reason or the clear Evidence of Sense it is to be looked upon as False Because Reason is that Lamp or Candle of the Lord which he has lighted and set up in the Soul of Man whereby it is able to make a difference and discern between Truth and Falshood And our Senses are another infallible means of Communicating the true Knowledg of things to us when they are sound and not vitiated and their Objects duly and conveniently Circumstantiated Now as our Eyes and Ears were given us to discern Objects of Sight and Hearing so are our Reasons to discern those things that belong to Reason And as no Man but such a one as is Crazed in his Intellectuals will distrust his Eyes or Ears when their Objects are duly placed so neither will he distrust his Reason when it Acts according to those common and self-evident Notions upon which all Reason is founded And that this may yet be more manifest it is to be Considered that the Nature of Man is not indifferent to Truth or Falshood that is no Man can believe what he pleases whether right or wrong It is not in the Power of any to believe that to be True which he knows to be False because there is such an ungratefulness and disagreeableness between Falshood and the Rational Nature of Man and to believe a Falshood were to offer Violence to our Rational Faculties Wherefore because it is not in the Power of Man to believe or disbelieve at his Pleasure his Understanding being limited and bound up by those Eternal Rules of Truth and Falshood it is clear that Right Reason must be the measure of Truth and Falsehood and consequently that Doctrin must be False that is contrary to Reason To give some light to this in a particular Instance Our Adversaries of the Romish Church say that Transubstantiation is True that is that the Consecrated Wafer and every Crum of it is the whole and entire Body of Christ that hung upon the Cross But according to this Rule it is utterly False because it is contrary to the Reason and Sense of Mankind It is contrary to Reason because Christ's Natural Body cannot be in Heaven and at the same time without any continuation of it self be in a Thousand distant Places upon Earth And it is contrary to the Evidence of Sense because Three of our Senses viz. our Tasting Touching and Seeing inform us that it is still Bread And if our Faculties may deceive us in their proper Objects it is impossible we should ever arrive to the certain knowledg of any Thing but must be Condemn'd to an Eternal Scepticism But that our Senses are true Judges when they are rightly Circumstantiated appears from all the Miracles which our Saviour wrought which are only so many Appeals to the Evidence of Sense 3. Whatever Doctrin or Opinion there be in Religion that does not drive at Holiness of Life nor design the Perfection of Men's Souls it is to be looked upon all one as if it were False For all the Mysteries and Truths of the Christian Religion are such as some way or other serve to beget in us a true Fear and Reverence of God and tend to the making us better Their Design is to communicate such a knowledg of God and of his Works to us as may affect our Hearts and render us more God-like Holiness is the Intent and Purpose of the whole Gospel and whatever does not in some measure promote and advance a Pious and Religious Life cannot be believed to come from God Thus if a Man shall imagine that a bare Naked Faith without an inward Change and Renovation of the Mind is enough to save him or if he shall frame to himself any Opinion that gives any Liberty Indulgence or Allowance to any Sin These and such like Fancies are utterly False and to be Abhorred because they destroy the great End of Religion which is the inward Holiness Purity and Sanctity of the Mind and Spirit By these Rules we may Examin the Truth of all Doctrins propounded to us in
unblamable Conversations Which is according to that sound Admonition of the Apostle 1 Pet. 2.12 Having your Conversation honest among the Gentiles that whereas they speak against you as evil doers they may by your good works which they shall behold Glorifie God in the day of Visitation Notwithstanding all the Malitious Cavils and Atheistical Objections made against Religion yet a true Christian that walks answerably to his Profession must gain at the last a Repute and Esteem from all that are Lovers of God and Virtue 2. If we would do things of good Report and which may purchase us a good Name amongst Men we must carefully avoid not only the open practice of Vice but whatever may have any suspicion in the Minds of Men of Vice And this is called by the Apostle An abstaining from all appearance of Evil 1 Thess 5.22 Whether that signifie from every sort or kind of Evil or from every thing that bears the likeness appearance or shew of a Sin For he that will venture as near to the Confines and Borders of Sin as he can seems to declare a Tacit Liking and Approbation of it and consequently exposes himself to the hazard of being Betrayed and Surprized and so of losing his Credit and Reputation Therefore a Wary and Cautious Christian and such it behoves every Man to be will studiously avoid every thing that may cause the least Jealousie in the Hearts of others of his Sincerity There are many things which are not directly Sinful yet to another who has not that Maturity and Ripeness of Understanding may prove an occasion of Stumbling and Falling and therefore are not to be done by him who would acquire a good Esteem and Reputation It is true if a thing that is in it self indifferent be upon weighty Reasons and Grounds commanded by Law and another through Weakness is scandalized at the use of it it is a thing which a good Christian cannot help and there is an Offence taken but not given Though it were to be wished that there were as few of these Stumbling Blocks laid before Weaker Persons as may fairly consist with the Honour and Interest of Religion it self 3. He that would acquire a Good Name and Reputation must take care that in all his Actings with others he be sincere i. e. upon all Emergences he must practise Virtue for Virtues sake because it is in it self the best and most desirable thing in the World For if in our Conversation we proceed upon Sinister Ends and that Self-advantage and Interest be the Measure of our Actions besides that it redounds to the discredit of Religion it casts a Disgrace upon us and we so far deviate from the Principles of true Virtue as Selfishness is concerned in our Actions And the Reason is because he that makes a fair show of some Virtuous Actions merely to compass Self-Advantage does hereby manifestly declare that if it were not for this Private and Self Love he would not do them which the generality of Mankind must needs look upon as a gross piece of Hypocrisie and Dissimulation than which nothing can be a greater Enemy to our true Credit and Reputation Thus you have an Account of the several Virtues to the practice of which the Apostle so seriously Exhorts us And he that has any Care for the Peace of his Conscience in this Life and his Eternal Happiness hereafter will carefully think on these things Which that we may all do He who is the Author and Finisher of our Faith grant to us to whom be all Honour and Glory both now and for evermore Amen A DISCOURSE OF Sincerity John 1.47 Behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile THESE Words our Saviour spake of Nathanael who is reckoned one of the Twelve Apostles though called by another Name for we find him expressly mentioned with them John 21.2 This Person being brought by Philip to Jesus when he was come within distance or hearing Christ says Behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile As if our Lord had said See here a Man of that Integrity Simplicity and Sincerity which is highly valued and prized in God's sight And though this were spoken particularly of that Apostle yet it instructs us in this Great and Weighty Truth That Sincerity is the great Accomplishment and Perfection of a Christian in God's sight For it is no new thing for true Christians to be called in Scripture by the Name of Israelites For St. Paul expresses it so in more than one place in plain terms Rom. 9.6 They are not all Israel which are of Israel i. e. though they may Lineally descend from Israel yet it is only those that are Sincere that are the proper Israelites or true Christians So again Rom. 2.28 Now to be without Guile here is to be Sincere and without Hypocrisie whereby it appears that a Man is Valued and Esteemed in the Eyes of God according to his Sincerity And this sometimes is represented by the Name of Truth I have no greater Joy says St. John Ep. 3.4 then to hear that my Children walk in Truth that is that they are Sincere Christians I am sure it was St. Paul's great Comfort when he supposed himself near his Death 2 Cor. 1.12 That in Sincerity and Godly Simplicity he had his Conversation in the World He neither flattered himself nor those that heard him but told them the plain Truth shewing them both by what he himself and they must hope to go to Heaven And this was the down-right Sincerity of his Heart when he had no doublings windings or turnings with God but endeavoured as far as ever he could to please him and do his Will This alone has the Promise of Heaven and upon this the Blessed Land of Righteousness the Pleasant Mansions of Immortality are Entailed This is the Complement and Perfection of Holiness without which all our Religion is but a mere Shadow Pageantry For then only is the Soul of Man said to be Sincere when it is fully and wholly carried out after that which is simply and absolutely the best And all Men that have any sense of Religion must own that God and the Participation of his Nature is absolutely and above all Comparison the best thing in the World And to attain to a Union with God cannot be denied to be the greatest Happiness the Mind of Man is capable of And since this is not only simply the best but the utmost and compleat Felicity of our Nature it follows that Sincerity is then most perfect when our Wills with all their Affections and Desires are fully and wholly carried out after it Fully and wholly I say that is without any By-ends or Self-designs or Sinister Respects of particular Fame or Gain or any such thing but merely upon a clear Knowledg that it is the best thing in the whole Creation For he whose Intention is not directed aright can hardly attain that excellent Qualification our Saviour so much commended in his
Apostle Now to the end we may judg of our own Sincerity we may resolve our selves by these Two plain Notes or Characters 1. If our Religion be as well in Private as in Publick For he that confines his Religion only to the Church or to a Festival-Day is like those Heathens that Chained up their gods for fear they should run away and they should never find them again But when we are hearty in Religion and it be deeply sealed and impressed upon our Souls it will exert and shew it self as well when none but God is present as if Ten Thousand Eyes of Men were upon it For since we believe that God is Omnipresent and that the bright Eyes of Eternity are ever broad awake and looking upon us it argues little Fear and Veneration of that Holy Being if we can dare commit a Sin in his presence though no other Being in the World were privy to it Therefore when all Circumstances are fair and inviting and concur to the Acting a pleasant or profitable Vice with the greatest Secrecy and Impunity then to Abstain and Hate the Sin out of a Religious Fear of offending God and debasing our own Souls it is a good Argument that the Purposes of our Hearts are Right and Sincere 2. If we adhere to God and keep firm in the ways of Virtue as well in Adversity as Prosperity It is easie to be Religious when God incircles us with his Blessings and Rains down Pearls as it were into our Mouths but when he hides his Face and writes bitter things against us and a Storm of Miseries and Afflictions from without blows hard upon us then to be Virtuous is truly Honourable and Praise-worthy And as it si no great Credit to practise a Virtue that is in Fashion or to Adorn our selves with a Modish Piety But to follow Virtue through rough and uneven Paths and to be Religious when Holiness is contemned and disgraced that shews a steady Resolution and that a Man Loves God because he is the most Excellent Being These Notes and Characters of Sincerity are few and plain and by them we may examine our own Hearts and discern whether there be any Hypocrisie in them or not And by these we may discover the state of our Souls without perplexing our selves with a Multitude of Evidences and Signs of our Salvation which it may be upon an exact search may prove either Impertinent or Unreasonable Nay certainly he that is throughly possessed with a Vigorous Sense of God and Virtue and makes it his whole business incessantly to breath after though with the loss and hazard of all these Worldly Enjoyments yea even of Life it self shall find a more lasting Comfort and a stronger Security for Heaven flowing from his own Soul than if an Angel should tell him he was Ordained to a Celestial Happiness And we have the more reason to endeavour after this Integrity and Uprightness of Heart from its great Necessity and apparent Usefulness There are Two main Seasons or Times of Tryal of a Christian wherein a Sincere and Candid Breast will be his greatest Strength and Support And these are 1. The Days of Affliction and Calamity Prosperity is a very false Glass and most commonly represents us to our selves in other Colours and Features than really we are But Adversity and Affliction wipes off all this Painted Gloss and Varnish and shews us the true Face of things And in this Case a Formal and Hypocritical Dress will do us no good While we can draw Waters at our own Cisterns we speak well of God and make a chearful Profession of Religion But when a severe Providence dries up the Well-springs of our Comforts and leads us through a Scorching Wilderness wherein we Combat with fierce and fiery-flying Serpents then is the time of Tryal And indeed the True and Native Glory of Virtue is never made so Visible and Conspicuous as when it is surrounded and begirt with the greatest Dangers Adversity is a proper mean to discover whether our Love to God and Virtue be Sincere and Unfeigned or whether it be Counterfeit and Adulterate Which our Saviour intimated in a Parable in the Gospel where the Scorching Beams of the Sun i. e. the Times of Misery and Tribulation quickly shew'd the difference of the Soil wherein that Divine Seed was cast 2. The Hour of Death is another of those Times which will discover our Sincerity Men have not the same Apprehensions of Sin in their Health and Strength as when they are drawing near their End and entring upon the borders of another World For as the Body in Sickness Loaths even those things that were most grateful and pleasant in its Health So is it with the Mind or Spirit When it foresees that 't is hastning to another and stranger World it distasts and hates the thoughts of those Sins it so freely Acted and Indulged it self in before For then the Body which is the Root and Occasion of Sin being broken and out of order the Soul may more freely and clearly behold the difference between Good and Evil and accordingly is more sensibly affected with it And the clearer sight we have of Sin and Wickedness the greater is that Horror and Fear the Conscience inflicts upon us when we are sensible of our own Guilt Now since the Hour of Death and Dissolution of our Earthly Tabernacles makes so perfect a Representation of Things to us stript of all their outward Appearances and divested of that Paint and Flourish we put upon them it must needs be a mighty support and comfort to find the Face of our Souls Calm and Smooth and our selves not burdened with the Heaviness and Weight of Guilt But when the Sins of our past Days come into our Remembrance and we consider how False we have been to God and our own Souls when it may be we have betrayed our Faith and Religion to support a frail and tottering Interest in this World there will then be little else but a dismal Scene of Horror presented to our Eyes The nearness of our Approach to that State wherein we must dwell for ever strikes a Chilness and Coldness to our very Hearts And all because we have lost that Hope and Confidence which flows from Sincerity when we have done our best to serve God And if now I should endeavour to bring into view this Frame and Temper of Spirit which we call Sincerity Clothed with all its Native Richness and Glory I should sooner want Words to express it than be able fully to represent the Excellency of it It s Beauty is so faultless and irreprehensible and the sweetness of its Nature so great that there is nothing on Earth so Lovely and so Desirable 'T is such a State of Soul which he that is possessed of would not lose and he that has it not if he knew but the worth of it would give all the World if he had it in his power to purchase it For certainly if ever